In 2023, streaming services are evolving. This is particularly true in the world of live sports. Traditionally, major broadcasters have held the rights to these events with minimal competition. The advent of streaming could change that, though.
We've already seen the massive MLS Season Pass deal with Apple TV. That sees users pay £/$99 per year or less, to gain access to every single minute of live football action from the US league. Amazon Prime have gotten in on the act, too. They have rights to show some Premier League action in the UK, as well as select NFL and MLB games in the USA.
Netflix have yet to break into this arena, though. They've had great success with documentaries about sports – Sunderland 'Til I Die, Drive to Survive and Full Swing to name a few. But the bridge to showing live action has never been made.
That could all change though. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Netflix are in talks to livestream a celebrity golf tournament. The event, which would feature Formula 1 drivers and professional golfers, could be the first live sporting event for the brand.
That combination would make some sense for the brand. Both golfers and drivers are already staples of the Netflix offering, with their respective documentaries. Having the two worlds collide in their first live sports event seems like a particularly easy win.
It won't be their first live stream, though. In March, a live comedy special with Chris Rock was aired. That went smoothly, though the same couldn't be said the following month. A live reunion episode of the Love is Blind reality show experienced difficulty, with an outage lasting more than an hour.
That kind of issue is exactly what Netflix will want to eradicate before they go bidding on higher-profile events. It's bad enough when that happens for a long-awaited reality show – lose an hour of the football and it could be a different story altogether.
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We'll have to wait and see how this pans out. The event is set to take place this autumn in Las Vegas, so expect more news in the coming weeks if this is going ahead.
Sam Cross is an award-winning journalist, with nine years of experience in the media industry. His work can be found in publications as diverse as Oracle Time, Metro and Last Word on Sports.
Here at T3, Sam is best known as the brand’s go-to guy for all things luxurious – from exquisite watches to fine fragrances; the latest performance vehicles to intricate audio equipment, and more.
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